Freiburg Women*’s team 7s Guidelines
2024 The-best-of-all-guides™ by Christopher, Rémi, Rafa and Berit
I. Intro: How to use this document
Welcome to our the Freiburg Women*’s team 7s Guidelines! This document is designed to help you understand the essential aspects of our game, from the basic laws to our specific strategies. This guide will be our go-to resource for learning and mastering our team’s 7s playstyle. We’ve structured the document to provide clear and comprehensive information, so you can easily find what you need. This document is designed for internal use and for supporting our club so it shouldn’t be shared without permission.
Let’s work together to build a strong, skilled team and enjoy every moment on the pitch!
Dynamite BOOM!!!!!
II. Laws
Simplified guide
Here is a simplified guide with some basic information created by one of our teammates:
Cool app
Download the Rugby Laws App for free if you got curious and want more detailed, in-depth information.
Android
In the app, among other cool resources, you can find a list of all rugby laws explained with images and videos, a list of definitions with lots of rugby terms such as “lineout”, “scrum” or “maul”, or a very clear list of referee signals used by the refs during the games with videos and explanation.
III. Basics structure
In this section, we’ll outline our team’s basic structure and strategies, covering crucial aspects such as defense, attack, lineouts, kick-offs, and penalties. Each area will be discussed in detail to ensure everyone knows their role and how we approach different game scenarios. At the end of this section, you’ll find a table of contents with key terminology and a list of common calls used during matches.
Offense
Position on the field
Setup for Offense
When attacking, players should stand in a “V” shape formation and try to maximize space in the field to stretch the defense and to help the team find or create gaps.
3-1 split
- When the player at first position takes the ball into contact, the link and centre are the players usually expected to support the attack. This leaves a complete 3-player attacking unit on one side of the field, and just one player, usually the wing, on the other side of the field. An attack on first creates a valuable 3-1 split field. The halfback can either pass to the 3-player attacking unit on one side of the ruck, or run the ball towards the wing on the other side. On the halfback’s approach to the ruck, both he and the wing should be looking to see if there is an opportunity to join forces for an easy 2 v 1
- link: can call “rot” or “weiß”
- attack pod: can call a play; looks for weaknesse
2-2 split
Calls in offense
henry (hands)
crash (hands)
paco (schere)
joster (Überpass)
louis (loop)
dobbie (double Schere/fake Schere)
- four options
- 1st paco
- run in gap between D2 and D3
- 2nd paco
- run ousite D3
rot-weiß/weiß-rot
- weiß = links; rot = rechts
peter (put away)
- An offload in the tackle to a support player hitting the ball at pace is a simple but extremely effective way to break a defence. And the 'put-away' is effectively just this- an offload in the tackle with support - but where the offload and support is coordinated and not spontaneous. Most offloads happen in a game on impulse, when the ball carrier frees his arms in a tackle and has close support running on to the ball. The 'put-away' is a play that ensures both of these things happen from one simple call.
- The ball carrier must first identify which defender is marking him, and then let the inside player know his intention ('Hey, John, I'm going to put you away'). Remember the simple lesson of when the ball carrier runs right, space is created on the left and vice versa. In a 'put-away, the ball carrier identifies which defender is marking him, steps inside the defender, engaging him in a tackle, and then makes an immediate offload to a support runner hitting space outside. In a 'put-away, it is not necessary for the ball carrier to beat the defender outright, but just to get to his inside and stretch him enough to make any tackle a passive one, which allows the offload. The success of the offload will be determined by the quality of the run, and so the ball carrier must aim to be as dynamic as possible also maintain leg drive through contact and aim to offload.
drecksau (run the short side of the scrum)
Defense
Position on the field
Setup for Defense
When defending, our team should a straight line across the field. All seven players should stand side by side with no gaps between them. This way, you cover the entire width of the field and make it harder for the other team to break through. As the other team attacks, you move up together in your line, staying close to each other and communicating to make sure no one slips through. The goal is to keep the attackers in front of you, block their progress, and try to force a mistake so you can win the ball back.
Basics of Defense
Most players should target the inside shoulder: In defense, aiming for the inside shoulder of the ball carrier helps guide them toward the sideline, limiting their options and making it easier to tackle or force them out of play. This also prevents the attacker from cutting back inside, which could break the defensive line.
But the wing should target the outside shoulder: By focusing on the outside shoulder, the winger can guide the attacker back towards the center of the field, where there are more defenders to help make the tackle. This approach also reduces the risk of the attacker breaking free along the wing, which is often the fastest route to the try line.
Calls in defense
numbers
- this is a rushed defense bla bla bla
schieben
- this is the slide defense bla bla
Kick-offs
We are kickin’
Setup for a Kick-off
- 4 players on the side of a kick call
Calls
- cover (rot/weiß): deep kick
- robber (rot/weiß): short kick
So: If kicker calls robber rot, the expected result is a short kick to the right. If the kicker calls cover rot, the expected result is a deep kick to the right
We are receiving the kick
Setup for Receiving a Kick-off
You caught the ball now what?
Line-outs
Scrum-downs
Penalties
IV. Strategies for special cases
